Damp Forest Garden Area

 

IN THE WILD –Our low elevation temperate forests occur from sea level to 1950’. Areas of tall evergreens create deep shade, open areas provide more sun and places in the understory beneath deciduous trees provide dappled shade.  (Scroll down for plant list.)

N.W. Forests are usually composed of tall, evergreen trees (Western Red Cedar, Douglas  Fir, Western Hemlock) and Big Leaf Maple with smaller deciduous trees growing in sunnier open parts of the woods. ( Indian Plum, Crabapple, Serviceberry, Cascara, Vine Maple, Ash and Dogwood to name a few) In the understory are found perennials, ferns and mosses.

One finds an abundance of organic matter and nutrients in the top 12” or so of soil,built up by years of fallen leaves and twigs. Recent discoveries show that various fungi in the soil are essential to the healthy growth of many of the plants.

AT KUL KAH HAN – The first 150′ of planting beds, at the edge of the natural forest (beginning near the parking island) is the Damp Forest. This is where we grow plants that appreciate adequate water. The next 125′ is our Dry Forest area in which we grow native plants that are quite drought tolerant.

IN YOUR GARDEN- Many people live right next to a natural forest edge. In this setting, one can simply clean and clear out any invasive plants, build a few paths going to special places and plant the typical forest ground covers, ferns and flowers.

If you have a few existing trees, you might consider adding a few more to create a grove, plant your groundcovers, flowers and ferns around them and let it speak to you as an area symbolic of the greater forest.

Damp Forest Native Plants

(Click on plant names to view photos and descriptions)

TREES
Acer circinatum – Vine Maple
Acer macrophyllum – Big Leaf Maple
Cornus nutallii – Western Flowering Dogwood
Crataegus  douglasii – Black Hawthorne
Fraxinus latifolia – Oregon Ash
Malus fusca – Pacific Crabapple
Prunus emarginata – Bitter Cherry
Pseudotsuga menziesii – Douglas Fir (DRY OR DAMP)
Rhamnus purshiana – Cascara
Sorbus scopulina – Western Mountain Ash
Thuja plicata – Western Red Cedar

SHRUBS
Holodiscus discolor – Oceanspray
Oemleria cerasiformis – Indian Plum
Maianathemum racemosa – Western Solomon’s Seal
Menziesia ferruginea – Fool’s Huckleberry
Physocarpus capitatus – Pacific Ninebark
Rhododendron macrophyllum – Pacific Rhododendron
Rubus spectabilis – Salmonberry
Sambucus racemosa – Red Elderberry
Umbellularia californica – Bay Laurel
Viburnum americanum – Opulus Viburnum

GROUNDCOVERS
Cornus unalaschkensis – Bunchberry
Goodyera oblongifolia – Rattlesnake Plantain
Linnaea borealis – Twinflower
Oxalis oregana – Oregon Wood Sorrel
Vancouveria planipetala– Ducksfoot

FLOWERS
Achlys triphylla – Vanilla Leaf
Boykinia major – Large Boykina
Claytonia parviflora – Streamside Spring Beauty
Claytonia perfoliata – Miner’s Lettuce
Coptis lacianata – Cut-Leaf Goldthread
Delphinium menziesii – Menzie’s Larkspur
Dicentra formosa – Bleeding Heart
Disporum hookerii – Hooker’s Fairybells
Erythronium revolutum – Pink Fawn Lily
Fritillaria affinis – Checker Lily
Geum macrophyllum – Large-Leafed Avens
Heuchera chlorantha – Meadow Alumroot
Hydrophyllum tenuipes – Pacific Waterleaf
Iris tenax – Oregon Iris
Maianthemum racemosa – Western Solomon’s Seal
Maianthemum stellatum – Star-Flowered Solomon’s Seal
Mertensia platyphylla – Broadleaf Bluebells
Mitella ovalis – Coastal Miterwort
Penstemon cardwellii – Cardwell’s Penstemon
Penstemon fruticosus – Shrubby Penstemon
Penstemon ovatus – Broad Leaf  Penstemon
Petasites frigidus – Coltsfoot
Polemonium pulcherrimum –Showy Jacob’s Ladder
Tolmiea menziesii – Piggy-Back Plant
Thalictrum occidentale – Meadowrue
Trillium ovatum – Western Trillium
Vancouveria hexandra – Inside-out Flower (DAMP OR DRY)
Viola glabella – Yellow Wood Violet
Viola orbiculata – Round Leaf Viola

FERNS
Adiantum aleuticum – Maidenhair Fern
Athyrium felix-femina – Lady Fern
Blechnum spicant – Deer Fern
Dryopteris expansa – Wood Fern
Gymnocarpium dryopteris – Oak Fern
Polypodium glycrrhiza – Licorice Fern
Polypodium scouleri – Leather leaf  Fern
Woodwardia fimbriata-Giant Chain Fern

Damp Forest, Dry Forest, Edgeland, Meadow, Montane, Subalpine, Wetland.